Matter & Energy

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SMOG CITY Los Angeles, shown here, is one of the smoggiest cities in the United States. That haze of air pollution comes not just from cars, but also from an array of consumer products that emit chemicals into the air.

David Iliff

SILICON STEPS UP Scientists are performing new quantum feats with silicon-based devices (background, shown in a scanning electron microscope image). In a technique that could help silicon quantum computers scale up, a particle of light (pink waves) was made to interact with the spin of a single electron (pink circle).

Emily Edwards/University of Maryland

AHEATED RESPONSE Probing 2-D materials with high-energy particle beams reveals how these superthin films perform when the heat is on.